State Capitol Highlights

Governor reacts to downtown Dallas ambush

AUSTIN — A “Black Lives Matter” protest turned tragic when a sniper fired into a crowd estimated at 1,000 people in downtown Dallas at about 9 p.m. on July 7. 

Dozens of shots were fired, reportedly from an assault rifle, leaving five police officers dead and seven police officers and two civilians wounded. Police pursued a suspect identified as Micah Xavier Johnson, 25, a former U.S. Army reservist, and killed him in a parking garage using a robot-propelled explosive device early on July 8.

Gov. Greg Abbott issued an open letter titled, “A Time To Come Together,” published in The Dallas Morning News on July 8. Among his comments, Abbott wrote: “Texas is an exceptional state with exceptional people. We’ve faced tough challenges in the past, but we have come together to overcome those challenges. In the coming days, there will be those who foment distrust and fan the flames of dissension. To come together — that would be the greatest rebuke to those who seek to tear us apart.”

Flags were ordered to half-staff in honor of the slain police officers.

Profs sue over ‘carry’ law

Three professors employed by the University of Texas at Austin on July 6 filed a lawsuit in federal court in Austin, seeking to stop the state’s 2015 “campus carry” law from taking effect on the UT campus.

In part, the plaintiffs asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction before the start of fall semester classes on Aug. 24, prohibiting any state statute, rule, regulation or policy from taking effect that would compel them to allow the concealed carrying of handguns in their classrooms, or which would authorize imposition of sanctions if they bar the carrying of concealed handguns in their classrooms.

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